Trying to understand it all.

Paul McCartney has announced he’ll play a free concert on the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City on July 20 to mark the city’s 400th birthday.

The former Beatle used Canada Day to make the announcement in a video message taped in London:

“Hello everybody in Canada. Hi, how are you doing? Paul McCartney here, and I would like to announce that I am doing a gig — a big gig — in Quebec City on the 20th of July…. We’re coming to Quebec for the first time. We’re going to have a great time! And I would love to see you there.”

It will mark McCartney’s only North American concert date this year, his first concert in Canada since 2005 and his first performance ever in Quebec City.

Just a few weeks ago, the 66-year-old performer played a free concert in Ukraine for a crowd of 300,000 in Kyiv’s main square.

Officials in Quebec City have been keen to drum up tourism this year, and McCartney is the big headliner they had been hoping for.

“Paul McCartney is more than a celebrity. He’s a legend, a reference, a musical and cultural icon,” organizer Daniel Gelinas told the Montreal Gazette.